In Praise of Girlfriends (with apologies for the length of this post)

21:42
Karen
10 Comments

What an absolutely sublime weekend (only marred by the fact that my darling girl went back to Newcastle on Sunday).

I spent the weekend with Denise and Jane and lots of other lovely ladies at Stoke by Nayland Golf Club for the ATDML Spring retreat. When I arrived on Friday it was in full swing with a fabulous shop full of so many goodies that my pennies were trying to jump out of my purse before I had even found my cropping spot.

I also managed to spend time with the lovely Karen Cole, whose awesome class I took on Saturday.

Photos stolen from Denise's Facebook - shhhhhhh!

Over the weekend I took 5 classes and taught a make and take and two classes so was very, very busy. I managed to complete two of the pages from the classes and make a further three! I am so fortunate to live just over 15 minutes drive away from the Golf Club that I decided to commute to the retreat each day so that I was able to spend a little extra time with my girlie before she returned to Uni.

I love Pinterest and the quirky and thought provoking sayings that pop up on there and have a whole board of them. I decided that it was time to get some of them off that board and onto my pages so I started with this page.

Then made this one

The hearts and title were cut out from white card which was then layered onto pink paper

and finally this one.

Made using the mystery kit in our retreat goodie bags.

The finished classes were this one that I showed on Saturday but I have now added the title (another one with Pinterest inspired journaling).

and this really Zaney one taught by Debbie Jewell.

The photos were taken earlier in the month when Gracia and I spent a day in London for an appointment she had. We had decided to walk to the hospital from Liverpool Street Station and found a couple of eggs on the way. When we got to Covent Garden (to buy our Shrek tickets) there were a few more and we also found a couple at Liverpool Street Station. These photos epitomize Gracia's sense of humor and silliness.

The classes I taught were a mini book - boy and girl version

and this layout with the technique of making your own flower embellishments.

So that was my lovely weekend. Hope yours was just as much fun.

Will post later in the week when I finish the other three classes. Off to do some more now ;o)

Reasons to be cheerful:

1. After many years of choosing to live without them, discovering the joy of girlfriends.

2. A wonderful man who encourages me to go and do the things that make me happy.

3. 4 weeks with my girlie without a cross word and a safe journey for her and Josh back to Newcastle.

Some wonderful layouts,Karen....my favourite is the 'always remember' one.....simply stunning.It sounds like a perfect weekend.Glad you're enjoying the book....I think you'd love the one I have at the moment....all about scrapping with texture.

Wow, what a lot of fabulousness! I really like the colors on the Always Remember layout and that you made a layout using one of my favorite quotes on the I Want To Be layout. Looks like it was a great weekend.

Lovely to meet you at last Karen and so nice that I was sitting next to you. Really enjoyed your mini book class, which I will finish and am going to work on the layout when I'm at a crop this weekend. Will look forward to our paths crossing again.